Author: Maria Runs

Disneyland Paris in October!!

Hooray! In case you didn’t guess, our trip to DLP went ahead!

The original plan was that Andy would get the Eurostar on the Thursday (as he could book Friday off) and I would travel on Friday after work. This is because we were going as a big group with Andy’s family (his parents, his 2 brothers and their wives, plus our niece and nephew- they were all travelling on the Friday as they didn’t have school that day/ can book a day off work). However, we had a bit of a hiccup with a passport, which meant that with a week to go the trains were changed to later in the year, hotels were cancelled etc. Then, when the passport was sorted (eg arriving) the Eurotunnel was booked (Eurostar prices were crazy high to book last minute). Everyone else travelled on Friday, and we drove down to Kent on Friday night and then got the Eurotunnel early on the Saturday morning (eg we got up at 4.50am).  There were delays (a train was stuck in one of the tunnels so they were having to run batches of trains in one direction, then batches in the other)- so it was frustrating to be waiting around for a train, thinking we could have got up later, but of course the reality is that if we got up later we would have been further delayed. The drive down there was fine, and thankfully we weren’t as delayed as originally told. When we drove through the gates at around lunch time it was such a welcome sight.

As you can imagine, a trip with a big group is very different to when the two of us go. My first Disney trip was a trip to Florida with Andy’s family (probably 18 years ago?)- his aunt, uncle and cousin also stayed in the villa with us, and ever since then (when we did not have matching t-shirts) I have loved seeing the big family groups in Florida with their matching tops, telling us “Smith Family Vacation 2005” or whatever. One day we will do that! I did look into matching tops but as the weather was going to be cold and they’d be hidden under coats it seemed a  bit of a waste.

Anyway, we had booked (with our annual passes) the Saturday, Sunday and Monday. Everyone else had 3 day tickets (we had planned to use our AP discount as you can buy discounted tickets, and had reserved them, but Andy had cancelled his when the trip was postponed, and even though they still had mine, the 3 day ticket worked out cheaper than a 2 day ticket plus the discounted one through me).

Vegan burrito, Starbucks, tea in the room and vegan breakfast sorted

I was prepared with some food- I bought along a pack of vegan croissants and we always take lots of tea with us. There were some vegan options- the place that did the falafels in the summer now did a vegan burrito which was really tasty- and huge! I had it for lunch one day and was so full for the rest of the day. Of course we popped to Starbucks a few times. My sister in law bought a (quite expensive) tea in one of the Disney restaurants and it was in a teeny cup, only half full of water. Honestly, go to Starbucks as you get a huge one (plus they will add soya milk, not something I think is available in the parks).

The three days were super busy, often going between parks. We did some things as a big group (Buzz Lightyear was a particular favourite of the kids) and then other times would break into smaller groups- it was nice for Andy to have company on the rollercoasters as I don’t go on them.

I was very keen to go to the Frozen show- I love it anyway but also knew my niece was love it (she’s 5 and was loving all the princess things). The first time we didn’t manage to get there (there are only a few shows each day and it has a small capacity), so on the Monday we queued for over an hour to be let in. We had one of those magic moments though, as she thought she would be watching it on a screen (like Philharmagic) so when she saw an actual person (Elsa) she gasped “Elsa ‘s real!” Perfection.

Plus Andy actually “got” it this time- when we went at Christmas in 2019 he thought the reindeer model was broken as Kristoff “speaks” for Sven- now he’s seen the film a few more times he realised it’s meant to be like that.

I loved all of the autumn/Halloween decorations that were out and we had fun at some of the photo spots. Frontier land was decorated for the day of the dead (like the film Coco)- at night it was even better as all of the lanterns were lit up.

There were also little mini parades (an amazing steam punk dragon that breathed fire, a princess float) plus a little autumn/ Halloween parade with a very catchy tune. Lots of cheerful Disney magic touches.

Over the 3 days we managed to go on most rides a couple of times (especially Phantom Manor for the spooky season)- I had wanted to go on Philharmagic again but only thought about it on the final day and by that time it had closed (it shut at 5pm). We went to see the Lion King show which was amazing- different to the Florida version and with a real Cirque du Soleil feel.

I was also really pleased to manage the drawing class. We had to queue for a bit and ended up watching a group draw Mickey and then Olaf (I would have loved to draw Olaf). We did Donald and Andy, who says he is terrible at art, joined in with me too. I think we both did pretty well- the instructors tell you in English and French and they do it step by step so everyone can manage it.

Our art of animation class drawings, plaits (as hair down was not working for the first day) and the animation academy.

After everyone else left, we were due to head further north in France, but Andy happened to look on the annual pass website and saw that we could reserve the Tuesday, so we quickly booked a hotel, and after charging the car for a bit headed back to the parks for a final bonus day.

Tail walking and half marathon recovery

The Monday after the Brighton half was a busy one, as after work and a speedy dinner we drove up to Cambridge to see the Manic Street Preachers. After seeing Ash a few weeks before, I was looking forward to the music, and the band itself were amazing, but the crowd, less so. We were near the back, but despite the venue requiring masks, hardly anyone was wearing them, and people were really crowded in. A few people were friendly (one tall guy even apologised for standing in front of me, but I am used to listening and not seeing anyway, and there was nowhere else for him to stand). We had a few people near to us who were totally drunk and shoving into other people, falling over and even dripping beer on me, at which point Andy asked them to calm it down (we could not move anywhere else as it was so crowded). They got a bit aggressive and at one point the guy even shoved me, which totally shocked me. They were with a lady (not drunk) who saw and apologised, and tried to calm them down and sort of keep in between them and everyone else (it wasn’t just us that they were shoving into) but it did sort of ruin the concert a bit.

As we had a late night, I decided to run after work on the Tuesday instead of in the morning, which turned out to be a very good decision because it was gorgeous weather- the trees were looking beautiful.

A hot cross bun and tea was waiting for me after my shower- perfect.

Wednesday and Thursday mornings were back to the early morning starts- it’ so dark now and I’m not sure how long I’ll continue them for. I know that it will be dark in the evenings too, but the streets are so quiet first thing that it feels a bit spooky, whereas after work there are people at bus stops and more traffic about. Yoga on Wednesday evening was very much needed (I’m sure you’ve seen the meme of the tin man trying to do yoga- that’s me most weeks anyway) and the nidra at the end was the closest I’ve been to sleeping during it for a while!

On Saturday Andy had the car, and I’d volunteered to tail walk at parkrun. It’s one of my favourite roles, and so I was really looking forward to it. I’d seen earlier in the week that the new milestone t-shirts had gone live, meaning I could order my 50 volunteer top, but it didn’t arrive until Saturday morning (when I’d already left). Never mind, I kept my jacket on the whole time so it’s not as if anyone could see it!

Before we started I chatted to one of the other volunteers (who I found out on Sunday is also in OH ladies)- we both agreed that time keeping was super stressful having both done it once but not again. She was keen to try out a new role, and was going to be token scanning but in the end was moved to be handing them out.

I did feel a bit panicked when I was given a walkie talkie- I’d forgotten that side of the role! I had to radio in at each marshal point to keep the RD up to date with where we were. My shocking left and right knowledge scuppered me for a bit as I had to press the big button on the left, and spent ages wondering why it wasn’t working, only to realise I was pressing buttons on the right. Ooops. I also had a shocker when describing where I was (eg, there aren’t numbered points) so it was “I’ve just passed the marshal at the end of the cow field before the lakes”- and the worse one “I’m just coming up to the big wooden owl sculpture”- this is clearly a phoenix as it has flames all over it. He knew where I meant anyway!

At the back were two ladies walking together, one in a 200 marathon jacket and some Run Disney gear, so after a bit I got chatting to them- they were doing crazy challenges like running 8 marathons in 8 days, and one of them had done things like the Goofy Challenge (basically running all the Disney races over a weekend- with the marathon on the Sunday). I loved chatting to them. As we neared the end, the rain started, and then got torrential pretty quickly. I was so glad I’d worn my jacket (this was a last minute decision) but hadn’t packed a hat so I was having trouble seeing with all the rain streaming into my eyes.

I had to laugh by the time I got home as I was just dripping. Never mind, skin is waterproof and after a hot shower I felt fine. I had put a vegan croissant in the freezer (the Flourpot Bakery in Brighton makes amazing vegan chocolate coconut almond ones) and so I heated it up for breakfast. Perfect.

Disney hand cream and movie snack, Frozen 2 and my new 50 top

After some work and cleaning, I sat down to watch Frozen 2.

Sunday was rather grey and overcast, so I kept the run to a short 6 miles. Later in the afternoon we headed over to see Andy’s parents (trying to sort out a potential holiday- we were meant to be going to Disneyland Paris as a big group, but had cancelled as our niece’s passport hadn’t arrived in time so we were trying to work out what we could do if it arrived in the following week).

Then on to the final week of half term- always so busy with parents evenings added on top of everything else. I cut back on the runs, (4 miles on Tuesday and 3 on the Thursday) as I was feeling super tired. Now I’m not training for anything, running is just for the enjoyment/ fresh air/ mental health benefits, so no point in running loads if I’m feeling shattered. Yoga was on but I wasn’t home in time for it. We did have a movie night where we watched Muppet’s Haunted Mansion (about the scariest film I can cope with!), and then had a rather late night on the Thursday trying to pack (because in case you didn’t work it out, our trip managed to go ahead!).

Do you like scary films? Which volunteer roles do you enjoy the most/ least?

Brighton half 2021 and enjoying a weekend away

In times past, I would be in Brighton for the weekend several times a year- for the half marathon (usually in February) and the 10k (November time) but also maybe a last-weekend-of-the-summer-holidays trip, or a weekend in May for my birthday, or a long weekend over Easter…. this weekend we realised that we had not been down to Brighton for over a year.

We drove down on the Friday night- we did look at trains but there were the dreaded rail replacement buses on the Sunday- we got a Just Park driveway which was super easy.

Finish token, Brighton in the sunshine and acai bowl breakfast

Of course I could not resist going to parkrun. Hove Prom was the closest to our hotel (but only just)- it was heaving with people! Joe Wilkinson was marshalling and I spent a lot of the first lap wondering if I said something like “hey, you were really funny on The Last Leg” if he would then wonder if I didn’t think he was funny on Cats does Countdown…. so I just said “thank you marshal” as usual…

Andy picked us up some acai bowls for breakfast ready for when I got back, and then we went on a nice long walk to Hove and back. It was such a gorgeous day and so warm. I’d only packed thermal long sleeved tops (one for each day) and a sweatshirt, so I was boiling! That will teach me to pack lightly! In the end I changed into the t-shirt that I was going to wear for the race on the Sunday.

Of course we went to Bird & Blend- their strawberry lemonade iced tea is perfect on a warm day.

After a bit of a rest in the afternoon we went out for an evening walk (and came across a bakery piled high with vegan cinnamon buns, so of course had to buy one), and then we got a takeaway pizza from Purezza (100% vegan pizzeria and very delicious).

The race started at 9am, and they were asking people to turn up close to the start time (because of covid) which suited me fine. I was on time and then realised I’d forgotten my sunglasses (they are more comfy to run in than my normal glasses, and on the Saturday the glare from the sea made my eyes quite sore), so Andy kindly ran back to the hotel for me. This slight panic was not ideal but I was still in the pen 10 minutes before the start time (right behind Joe Wilkinson it turned out, although as soon as we started running he was off). It was a lot more spread out than usual, and I think I’d read that the capacity was about half the usual capacity to allow for more distancing. It was prompt to begin, and soon my wave were off. They did announce that everyone in my wave (2-2.15) was aiming to keep up with the 2 hour pacer, but I was definitely not one of those this year! My aim was to enjoy it, which I did.

There is always good crowd support in Brighton, but there were less people out on the course. There was one band (near to Hove) which moved from the road to the lawns so I heard them twice. I only saw the 4, 9, 10 and 11 mile markers, but I imagine that they were at every mile, and I didn’t look at my watch as I wanted to run on how I felt.  It was the traditional route of going east to Roedean, back to the centre, a loop of the centre (which I am sure is now bigger as you go further beyond the pavillion) and then west to Hove, before turning and coming back along the seafront. I decided I would try to keep the 2.15 pacer behind me, and managed to finish in 2:08:something so I was pleased with that.

The 9am start meant I had enough time to head back to the hotel for a shower before the midday checkout, and then we were off to get lunch from Leon. We actually sat inside – we chose a table right by the doors and not near any other tables, and it felt OK.

On our walk back to the car I got a pumpkin spiced latte from Bird &  Blend, and then we also passed a vegan doughnut shop so bought a couple to share once home (my first half with tea and Taskmaster- good recovery).

All in all so good to have a more normal feeling weekend.

Happy 17th birthday parkrun!

At least this year we are actually celebrating at parkrun!

But before that, the week was fairly standard after the busy weekend. Bake Off and cosy evenings with my autumn leaves fairy lights and scented candles. Early runs pretty much all in the dark. Yoga in the living room and yoga nidra under a blanket on the sofa.

I was feeling pretty pleased with our decision to get an electric car when everyone started going mad at the petrol pumps- plugging it in at home is just so easy. I hated going to petrol stations anyway (and only had a few I’d go to) plus as the ones I liked were not that near it would always add miles to my commute.

Morning run skies, online course essentials and plugging in the car at home

On Friday my wellbeing buddy at work got me one of these amazing Rhythm 108 chocolate bars- they are honestly just the best. I went after work to have a shoulder and back massage- the person I see has set up her own treatment room next to her house and it’s way easier (as before I had to park in town, now I can just park outside and it’s more on my way home). I did get a bit of a telling off about how bad my shoulders are- I’ve been trying to do shoulder rolls/ arm circles whenever I remember to try and stop it getting worse.

Haircut and parkrun

Saturday was of course parkrun’s 17th birthday! I really like these celebrations as it gives you a chance to think back about all the past events that have been enjoyed. I am so glad that my dad persuaded me to go to my first parkrun (in St Albans, in the pouring rain) as I really thought “well, I can just run a 5k from home and be back much earlier”. Little did I realise how much I would love it and how much of my life it would become. I know that if it wasn’t for parkrun, I wouldn’t see my parents as much, despite them living so close, because when you are busy it just gets harder to fit things in. The fact that we have this constant every week has meant that we see each other for that. I love that he is keen to do parkrun tourism and that we travel about a bit together too, and my mum is involved in the milestones (making us cakes) and of course breakfast once we have finished running.

Dad and I went to Jersey Farm and enjoyed it as usual, although I couldn’t hang about too long as I was off to get my hair cut. I was quite pleased to see that they required masks, and in fact someone turned up without one and so they were given one to wear during their appointment. It poured with rain so I got soaked on my walk back to the car!

Pancakes following my long run- and lots of autumn scenes on my run including a field of mini mushrooms

Sunday runday was time for a final long run before Brighton half- I decided to run into town and then do some loops (of the Festive 5 route) and then head home, to total 11 miles. That gave me confidence that I would be OK running the distance the following weekend.

We had ordered some buns from Random Buns of Kindness, and so enjoyed them over the weekend. There was a pumpkin spiced one (a spicy souped up cinnamon bun), almond cream (amazing almond croissant type bun), chocolate peanut butter (need I say more?) and a pistachio caramel one. All totally amazing, all vegan, and perfect with a cup of tea.

Did you celebrate parkrun’s birthday? What got you to go to your first parkrun?

Did you have trouble getting petrol the other week?

I can’t cope with a busy weekend!

And this felt super busy! On Friday Andy and I went to the Alban Arena to see Prof Brian Cox do a talk on space. It was so interesting, with a bit of comedy thrown in every now and then (Robin Ince who does the IMC podcast kept coming onto the stage too). I was again a bit apprehensive about going as they were not checking vaccine status, and although you had to wear a mask when walking about, you didn’t have to at your seat. Anyway, I kept mine on, and it was OK. In the interval you could go outside and get some fresh air, and having that break helped. I do know that I have to have some sort of trust in the vaccine- yes I know it does not mean I won’t catch it, but it is less likely, and if I do catch it, the illness should be less severe. But still, I am cautious anyway and these past two years have not helped that at all.

Back to the busy weekend! On Saturday I wanted to do a long run (as I would not fit it in on Sunday), so I ran around near home for a bit, met Dad in a car park and then we ran/walked to Panshanger to do their new course. We’d not been there since the restart, although I have run it on several occasions as it’s so close to home.

We both loved the new route, although I do think part of it will be very slippery once it has rained for a bit as it’s a long steep downhill. We met a few club members too, including Donna (my OH run leader) and again it was so nice to chat to people at the start and end. I’ll be back tail-walking in a couple of weeks so I thought it would be good to have done the new route before volunteering just to check I 100% know the course.

Breakfast/ Taskmaster/ autumn running scenes and painted nails

Once home I’d run/walked 9 miles, so that was OK by me. I didn’t have long at home to sort bits out (plus boring jobs like cleaning) as we were off to London. Ash are one of our favourite bands, and we were meant to see them in March 2020. Since then the gig has been rescheduled so many times (I think it went June 2020, September 2020, Feb 2021, possibly another date, and then finally September 2021). They were at the Roundhouse in Camden, a very cool venue (it used to be a turn table for the trains), so we drove to High Barnet and got the tube in. I could not remember the last time I went on the tube. The last time I went to London was at the start of March 2020 when we saw Reasons To Be Cheerful, but that was right by Kings Cross so we got the overground in. Anyway, it wasn’t too busy and most people had masks (even though it’s a TFL requirement so you would think that everyone would have one on).

We walked around London, popped to Leon to get some dinner, and then walked to the vegan Crosstown. Sadly they had run out of doughnuts- what? So I got a consolation cookie. It was good but I was looking forward to trying a new doughnut. We waited outside the venue for a bit, watching the Stormtroopers (Ash are big Star Wars fans and seemed to have some as security guards!) before I plucked up the courage to go inside. We found a space near the sound desk, I kept my mask on and felt fine. I think people saw me with the mask on and gave me a bit more space which was nice. Before they started playing they had a DJ who totally knew his audience (eg playing songs from late 90’s ad early 2000’s) and then once Ash came out and started playing it was just brilliant. I love live music and I was so happy to be there, singing along and enjoying the music. They even had a special guest in their encore; Charlotte, who was a member of the band for a bit. By the time I got home I’d walked over 42,000 steps- not bad!

Then there was no rest as on Sunday I was getting the train down to Haywards Heath to visit and friend and her new baby. Another friend got on the same train as me at an earlier stop, so we had a fab journey catching up, and then spent ages at our friends’ house. It was so lovely, but by the time I got home I felt like I needed another weekend to recover from the busy weekend!

Are you still wearing masks at all? I don’t tend to go inside many places (eg I might do a click and collect order but I’m not browsing and not eating out anywhere).

When is the last time you went into London or a busy city?